1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic camera, and more particularly to an electronic camera that uses an external storage medium, which is detachably connected to a body of the electronic camera.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional digital camera using an external storage medium such as a memory card, which is detachably connected to a body of the camera, captured image data is temporarily stored in the memory card, and then the image data is transferred to a storage device with a larger capacity than the memory card (e.g. a hard disk of a personal computer). Then, the memory card is cleared so that it can be repeatedly used.
In such a digital camera, the memory card is detached from the body of the camera in order to transfer the captured image data to the storage device. In this case, it is necessary to turn off a power switch of the camera before detaching the memory card from the body of the camera in order to protect the memory card and the image data therein. This prevents the waste of power in the camera since the camera is never used while the memory card is detached from the body of the camera. In order to capture images again, the memory card must be attached to the body of the camera. Since the power switch of the camera is OFF at this time, the power switch of the camera must be turned on after the memory card is attached to the body of the camera. Likewise, to exchange memory cards, an operator has to turn off the power switch of the camera before detaching one memory card from the body of the camera, and has to turn on the power switch after attaching another memory card to the body of the camera. It is troublesome to turn off and on the power switch of the camera every time the external storage medium is detached and attached.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 8-96493 discloses a control unit for an external storage medium. This control unit suspends the drive of a drive control unit for the external storage medium and the power supply to the drive control unit when a lid of an external storage medium housing is opened, so that the external storage medium is protected. This control unit, however, does not resume the power supply.